Capturing the perfect manicure may seem impossible when you don’t have time or money to hit the salon for some professional pampering. However, mastering a manicure at home may actually be easier than you think! Today I am sharing three helpful tools that allow you to get that professional look, without having to leave the house!

1. Sally Hansen Ultimate Shield – This clear shield acts as a base and top coat, adding a perfect shine to any at-home manicure. It also protects your polish from chipping and peeling, keeping your nails longer and stronger than they would be with just your polish alone. It runs for about $4-$5 at your local Walmart, Walgreens or similar store, which is a worthy price to pay for a longer lasting, healthier looking manicure!

2. Deep Sea Cosmetics Nail Buffer – I personally use this particular buffer, but any nail buffer in general allows you to keep your nails from peeling and can add some shine to dull or brittle nails. Use this before applying your clear coat and polish to stimulate nail growth and to smooth the nail surface. Shop this similar block on Amazon for just $5.

3. ULTA Nail Polish Remover Pen– Performing your own manicure at home is relatively easy, but when attempting to use your non-dominant hand to paint your opposite one, every girl knows this is when it gets tricky. Nail polish ends up all over the place, especially on your skin around the nail. The ULTA Quick Touch Nail Polish Remover Pen has an easy to use tip (and comes equipped with extras) which can clean up the excess polish better than the old q-tip and nail polish remover trick – which almost always messes up your already completed nails! Available now on the ULTA website for just $5.

These are just a few tools that allow you to easily create a salon worthy manicure, every time – in the comfort of your own home! Until tomorrow, Stylers! 🙂

Hi Stylers – I hope you all had a great weekend! Today on ‘Manicure Monday,’ I am showing off some more nail products from Sephora. For this manicure, I used their ASAP 3D nail lacquer appliques. They come in a variety of designs and are currently marked down on the Sephora website from $15 to $7! They go on just like stickers, are super easy to use and are said to stay on for up to 14 days. The package also includes a small cuticle stick and nail file for easy application.

I received a few of these sticker sets for my birthday, so I was excited to give them a try and see how they worked – and I was quite impressed. This particular sticker set is called ‘Suspended.’

Today’s Manicure Monday post is titled ‘Birthday Gold.’ To create this metallic gold manicure I used two different nail polishes. First, two coats of Layla’s Golden Nugget, covered with one coat of Loreal’s Because You’re Worth. Perfect for my birthday on Wednesday!Paired with rings from Claire’s. And a peep of my new Fossil watch!

This past weekend I took a risk. My New Year’s resolution for 2014 was to not cut my hair or dye it. The last time I did dye it was October of last year, so really, I was going strong. But, despite everyone saying they liked the way my hair looked, the mousy orangish-copper ombre effect that was happening was just NOT working for me. So, I decided to dye my hair purple. Like, I physically wanted purple hair. I’ve done a dark purple color before, but this time I wanted some serious purple action going on. Instead of buying box dye, I went to the beauty store and bought professional hair dye. Dark Violet Blonde by DaVinci to be exact. I couldn’t do it myself, but my mom took cosmetology many years back so I conned her into doing it. I was so scared of what might happen since my hair was literally at least 5 different colors, but hey, sometimes you need a change and in order for that to happen, you need to take a risk.

And I must say… I couldn’t be happier with the results. It wasn’t that prominent out-there purple that I had hoped for, but that subtle purple-when-caught-in-the-light look is just as good for me!

Here is the before and after:

The natural ombre of my hair took the dye color in an interesting direction and I have to say I love it. Definitely happy with the change and the risk payed off! Now get out there and try something new – you never know what will happen until you do!

Hi Stylers! I hope you all had a great weekend. I apologize that today’s post is so late – I’ve had an extremely busy weekend but starting tomorrow, we’ll be back on our regular schedule! Today’s ‘Manicure Monday’ post is more of a review.

A few Monday’s ago, I talked about the salon gel manicure – and the chance that when you get one, you may not always get what you pay for. So of course, when I saw the new Sally Hansen Miracle Gel nail polish I was dying to give it a try. If you haven’t seen or heard of this new product yet, it is simply a set of gel polishes that claim can be used without an LED light. It’s currently going for about $15 for a set of the gel polish color and the clear gel top coat (pictured below), and different colors can be purchased for about $8-$10.

Applying the gel polish color I found it went on just like your regular nail polish. It calls for two coats of the gel color and then one of the top coat. It had a nice consistency and went on easy, but honestly to me, it didn’t look or feel any different then a regular nail polish with a clear coat. It says it’s supposed to last for 14 days, so I will keep an eye on it to see if this proves true. If you’re interested in purchasing this product, I might suggest you try putting three coats of the gel color on instead of just two. Also, make sure you have enough top coat on the brush before applying it, because if not it will leave the gel color looking a little rough and bumpy.

The final review: I plan to see if it stays on for the 14 days as it claims. Depending, I may by the product again. It wasn’t the worst, I’m just not sure if it can be considered “gel polish” – it definitely does not provide the same results as gel polish applied with LED, but it’s great for the at-homer who is trying to save some money!

Going to the salon to get a manicure is probably a once-every-few-months kind of thing for me. My nails are naturally long, so there isn’t a need for me to get fakes or acrylics and I change my nail polish like a 5 year old girl that can’t decide on an ice cream flavor, so it’s never really worth paying $20 for a manicure meant to last a few weeks. The only exception is when I go home, because I love this little salon called Stylist Nails & Spa. I have found they do better work than any other place I have been and I have yet to find a worthwhile salon in Rochester. But, I only go there for the gel nail polish because I can’t do it myself, it lasts forever and it gives my nails that glossy ‘fake’ look – but it’s au naturel under there!

However, this time I swear I was acting as the guinea pig for a lady who has never done a gel manicure before – they were gloppy, melted and my nails were literally attached to my fingers. She must have thought it was just as bad as I did because when it came time to tip her she wouldn’t allow me… and hey, call me crazy, but my nails are one of my pride-and-joys so it matters to me whether or not they look good. I mean it wasn’t the worst thing I’ve ever seen. I liked the color (I’m still trying to embody Betty Draper through my orange nails) and the more I look at them, the better they look to me.

But.. next time.. I’ll think twice about dropping $20 on a manicure. Maybe it’s just better off to do it at home.

I hope you all had a great weekend! Today’s ‘Manicure Monday’ requires very little supplies. All you need is a variety of shades in the same color. I recently posted a purple gradient manicure but here it is again in green!

It’s simple and easy to do! And the gradient adds a little extra when you don’t have time to do an extravagant manicure.

Who’s to say who started it? Potentially Miley Cyrus with her instant fame after the 2013 VMA’s, but regardless of who initiated it, it appears pointed or ‘stiletto’ nails are all the rave this season.

Being rocked by these hot celebs: Katy Perry, Beyonce, Rihanna, Fergie, Blake Lively, Lada Gaga, Nicki Minaj, Kelly Osbourne and Miley Cyrus, the stiletto nail is the new way to shape your manicure. Personally, I love this new trend and can’t wait to try it out myself!

What girl doesn’t love painting her nails? It seems that now a days, one of the extremely popular fads that has been featured in Cosmo these past few months is the variety of nail polish colors and styles. While I can’t afford all of the fancy pens to do nail designs, one of the easiest (and my favorite) ways to switch it up is to wear multiple polish colors at once, as the title of this post suggests – the more the merrier! Here are a few examples of the colors I pair together:

This mix up was a purple gradient using the variety of colors and polishes below.